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Stephen Harper a man with two sides — who broadcasts the wrong one

Prime Minister Stephen Harper gave a good but little noticed speech last Friday that was quickly eclipsed by his slam of the country's chief justice, writes Michael
Den Tandt.Photo: Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS

For a vindictive, cold, Nixonian bully, facing the near-certain ruination of all his long years of Machiavellian scheming, Stephen Harper looked and sounded positively chipper, sunny even, as he addressed a group of Conservative supporters — and just a smattering of media — in London, Ont., late last week.

It was the very same day the prime minister attacked the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Beverley McLachlin, igniting yet another bizarre brush war the Conservatives will inevitably lose, as they’ve lost each such tussle before. It was a speech that revealed, not only the central themes the prime minister is likely to bring to the 2015 campaign, but the fundamental paradox of the man.

First, let’s acknowledge the simple oddness of it. It has been nearly a year now since the Wright-Duffy scandal turned Ottawa on its head. During that time the PM has been hammered relentlessly for the top-down and hyper-partisan character of the PMO under his rule. He has weathered caucus unrest; a slide in his personal popularity; and polls that have, until recently, indicated he stands an excellent chance of being replaced by his arch-nemesis, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, in 18 months.

Through this period there has been pressure on him, including some from within his own party, to open up; to communicate more frequently and at greater length; to persuade more and attack less; and generally to display the traits that have made him, despite some personal shyness, a formidable politician. All to no avail. The PM’s eulogy last month for his friend and former finance minister Jim Flaherty, moving and perfectly voiced, stood out for its singularity as much as for the skill with which it was delivered.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivers the eulogy at the state funeral for former finance minister Jim Flaherty. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press)

But then, surprise, Harper pops up in London, Ont., without the usual large media entourage — just a few photographers, some local TV folks and one web newshound — and delivers the best talk he’s given, possibly since the victory address on the night of May 2, 2011. Loonie Politics editor Robert Wood shot video and posted it. Otherwise, presumably, the rest of the country would have had no clue — particularly since the speech has been entirely eclipsed, since Friday, by Harper’s slam at the chief justice.

Irony of ironies: Now embroiled in yet another self-inflicted fracas that plays to his greatest vulnerability — the perception that he’s an anti-democratic bully — Harper in the London speech was jovial, relaxed, confident and as informal as I’ve seen him. He banters. He makes jokes. People laugh. It is as though, when surrounded by a crowd he considers friendly, without (most of) the jackals of the media dogging his heels, he becomes a different man.

In the speech, the PM outlined no fewer than 10 policy areas, each a potential vote-winner for the Conservatives, that he’ll likely take with him into the 2015 campaign. These include an economy and debt-to-GDP ratio that are the envy of the G7; taxes lowered and about to drop further; a bustling trade agenda that has opened new markets around the world to Canadian exports; support for training and innovation, including in the Southwestern Ontario manufacturing belt; a balanced budget in the offing or perhaps already achieved; a crime-fighting agenda now oriented toward protecting children from predators and bullies; immigration and refugee system reform; a sincere if imperfect effort to improve the lot of aboriginal Canadians on reserves, particularly women and girls; tax incentives to support charitable giving; and investments in parklands.

On the third anniversary of the party’s last election victory, Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks. (Dave Chidley /The Canadian Press)

Harper is no William Davis Red Tory, obviously. But the suite of issues above, and the way in which he framed them, can have strong appeal in Ontario. No coincidence, then, that at roughly the 20-minute mark in the half-hour speech, Harper took credit for the 15 new seats Ontario will receive post-2015. As many have noted, these seats are primarily suburban, not urban. It’s an Ontario electoral cornucopia that leans to small-c conservative. It can be converted into power by a Conservative party, or a conservative Liberal party, or even possibly a Romanow-esque penny-pinching New Democratic party.

What Ontarians are not likely to do, however, is move even more solidly behind a governing party that a) does not appreciate the depth and severity of the province’s economic malaise and b) is run by a perceived sore loser and bully who attacks and undermines the country’s top court and top judge, for no apparent reason other than that he’s angry because they won’t do his bidding.

So, the question for the apparently overwrought, overworked tacticians in the PMO, and Harper himself: Why, if your purpose is to win friends and influence people, would you make your pitch to Ontario with such little fanfare, while at the same time bellowing your annoyance with the Supreme Court to the rooftops? One would have only helped you; the other only hurts you. It is irrational and self-defeating, almost beyond belief.

I am a national political columnist for Postmedia News. My work appears in the National Post, on Canada.com, the Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Halifax Chronicle-Herald... read more and Vancouver Sun, among other publications. I write primarily about national politics and policy.View author's profile